Master of Synchros
by AurumChevalier
Summary: Continuation of Synchronic Sacrifice. Kaito has returned back to life after dying on the moon. He regained his lost memories and powers. Now, his job is to continue protecting what his parents fought for, the future. Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds and Yu-Gi-Oh ZeXal belongs to their respective owners.
1. Chapter 1: Inheritance

_Author's Note: It is recommended to read this story's prequel The Truth Hidden in Our Memories, a Yu-Gi-Oh ZeXal and The World Ends With You crossover, to have a better understanding of the background, though it is not required in order to understand this story._

Chapter 1: Inheritance

Kaito stood on the roof of the Heartland Tower, watching the crowd below going on with their lives. He was dressed completely in black, with a hood covering his face. Looking at them, he smiled and thought, _I was like them, going on with the daily things and never considering it was living. How things have changed._

Three figures approached him from behind, but he sensed them and turned around to confront them. "Is there something you guys want?"

The leader of the group stepped forward; he said, "We came here to return something to you, Kaito Tenjo, no, sorry, Kai Atlas."

"It seems team Ragnarok has not aged in over twenty years, Harald."

"The Gods are responsible for that, though I am glad that you remember. We became aware of your presence and decided it was the right time to return what was rightfully yours."

Kaito, Kai, looked at his long coat. It was supposed to mask his presence when he returned. _Did it not work?_ "How did you become aware of when I returned?"

"Our Nordic Gods foretold us of your arrival through our Rune Eyes." Suddenly all of their eyes began to glow, a symbol appeared on each of them. "Now, will you accept your inheritance?"

"My inheritance?" Inwardly, Kai felt relief; his presence still remained hidden from the Barians, or so he hoped.

"Your father's deck. Before he… disappeared, it was entrusted to us. He instructed us to give it to you when you completely understand your role. Now that you are ready, it is yours." Harald handed him a small jewelry box.

Kai opened the box and found a container filled with cards and a blank card next to it. Sensing what Kai was about to ask, Harald explained, "That blank card used to be your father's most powerful monster, but it and all other Synchros vanished the day he disappeared."

The moment Kai's hand made contact with the card, it glowed and Red Demon's Dragon appeared on it. Brave, Dragan, and Harald could not hide their surprise as they whispered, "That's impossible. It can't be."

Holding his hand open towards them, he said, "May I see your Synchro monsters? If I have the ability to restore this card, there might be a chance I could restore your's. Anyway, I want to repay you giving me this. Even though you were just following instruction, I still feel indebted to you."

As he passed his hand over each of the card, he noticed a portion of his energy dropped each time he restored a card. When he was done, Dragan said, "Even though your father was proud and arrogant, he was a great duelist, and above all, a good person. He would have been proud to call you his son."

Suppressing a smile, Kai replied, "It goes both ways. I am proud to call him father."

Brave walked up and said, "Don't forget about me. I'm always here to help."

"… Thanks. Before you guys leave, can you promise not to reveal my presence yet? It would cause a lot more problems."

Harald nodded, "We understand. Sometime, secrecy is the best way to win a duel."

They turned around and walked away, leaving Kai to stare at the deck he held in his hands.

Thinking to himself, he realized, _This power might have been what the Barians were after, but either it proved unreliable or dangerous for them to use._ He placed his father's deck onto his belt, next to his own. _This is mine now. I have to stop thinking of it as father's. He entrusted it to me. Since he died to protect my future, it's my job to continue his legacy. I have to do what I think is right._ With that in mind, he ran towards the Dimensional Transporter he helped build.


	2. Chapter 2: Interference

Chapter 2: Interference

Not only did Kai get brought back from the dead, he managed to return a week before he died. That gave him time to change things he regretted he couldn't.

After the flight to the arctic area the Dimensional Transporter was hidden, Kai muttered, " Why didn't I built that thing somewhere warm or at least nearby? This freezing iceland is too much of a hassle to travel to. Sometimes, I will never know what I was thinking back then."

Kai looked at the Dimensional Transporter. Now that he knew more about it, he saw the flaws that caused it to explode the first time. Seeing that nobody was around, he decided to do himself a favor and fix the transporter. He knew his past self was at the ruins again, investigating the legend of the dragons. There were other unknown factors though.

Since V helped with the Dimensional Transporter, he would be prone to visiting it and Kai didn't know if Chris would arrive that day or not. Suddenly, Kai smiled as an idea came to his head; he pushed back his hood and put on the lab coat that was hanging in the corner. Once he made sure his ruse wouldn't be discovered, he began to rewire the machine.

After Kai finished installing the energy diverter, he was drinking a large glass of milk. A voice from behind him said, "You are early."

Kai quickly turned around and accidentally spewed a mouthful of milk at Chris. While handing Chris a towel, Kai said, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting you."

Chris stared at Kai for a moment before asking, "Are you alright? You're acting kind of strange."

With a nervous chuckle, Kai replied, "I'm perfectly fine. Why would you ask that?"

"I will give you three reasons. First, you don't get startled easily, but you jumped when I was behind you. Second, you are wearing pants, not tights, in a very long time. Third, you… SPAT MILK IN MY FACE!"

"It's not like you to be overreacting, Chris. Besides, I already apologized."

"Sorry I yelled at you. I'm just frustrated. The longer we wait, the stronger the Barians grow."

"Not to worry. I got it figured out. Just leave it to me. Well, it's about time I got going."

"Stop being so cocky. You're going to lose one of these days if you keep it up."

"Yes mother, I will do whatever you say and make you proud." Kai started with a highly sarcastic tone and returned to his normal voice as he continued, "Is there anything else you want to say before I leave?"

Chris didn't say anything, but he waved Kai away. After Kai left, Chris said to himself, "I should not mention this to him when he returns. Last time this happened, Kaito ended up consuming too much chocolate and coffee, hoping those would help him stay awake. It took an entire week before he finally stopped jumping up and down. The entire facility had to tie him down, but he still got free." He massaged his temples while saying, "As if we didn't have enough things to worry about. Hopefully, it won't last as long as last time."

…

When he got back to Heartland City, Kai realized that was the day Number 96 and Astral had their final duel. As he got to the exact site, he was a few seconds late; the others had already disappeared.

_It's not too late; you can still help them. Use your duel disk and Dimensional Prison._

Kai turned around and asked, "Galaxy Eyes? What do you mean use my duel disk?"

_I can hear your thoughts, so you don't need to talk to thin air and look like an idiot. As you already know, you're a Psychic Duelist, so you can use the cards to make things happen in real life. You should hurry; time is of the essence._

A duel disk appeared on his left arm, but it wasn't the one he normally wore. It was completely black and had a wide end which curved into a point towards his elbow, like the blade of a scythe. In his hand was the trap card Dimensional Prison; as soon as he placed it on his duel disk, a portal opened up in front of him.

Kai landed safely at the end of the portal. The duel didn't start yet, but Number 96 had already created the Barian Sphere Field. Shark was the first to notice Kai and yelled, "Who're you?"

Soon, everyone realized Kai's presence. Before introducing himself, Kai decided to do something about the Barian Sphere Field. He managed to destroy it with the help of Mystical Space Typhoon. After the Barian Sphere Field came down, Number 96 screamed in outrage, "How dare you destroy my Barian Sphere Field! With this power, I am a God! How dare you!"

Yuma gave Kai a thumbs up and said, " Thanks for the help… Uhh … Who are you?"

Kai made sure the hood was still concealing his face and replied, "Atlas."

"Thanks. Now, we have a fair chance of beating this jerk."

As the duel started, Shark interrogated Kai. "Oy, just who the hell are you?"

Kai calmly replied, "Just somebody who's on your side."

"How would you know exactly where we were? You're suspicious."

"You don't have to trust me. Just watch the duel to the end before you judge me."

Kaito interrupted and said, "We can deal with him later. Yuma and Astral's duel comes first."

Yuma and Astral ended up winning. Number 96 couldn't handle the loss and decided to take over Astral's body. Knowing what it was up to next, Kai jumped in front of Astral and Yuma and tried to keep it from accomplishing its goal with Mirror Force. Even with his power, Kai couldn't anticipate where Number 96 would strike next.

Seeing that Number 96 could break through at any time, Astral decided to stop the battle once and for all. Kai didn't back down when Astral pushed Yuma away. Astral told Kai, "I don't know who you are, but you shouldn't continue this. It's too dangerous for you."

Kai gave a small chuckle before replying, "Astral, it's going to cause people a lot of grief if I stop now. Besides, this isn't a losing battle."

"Impossible. You're-" Before Astral could finish his sentence, Number 96 broke through Kai's defenses. Astral jumped forward and confronted Number 96 before it could hurt anybody. Kai tried thinking of ways to reverse the situation when a voice appeared in his head.

_You should just let things be as they are. There is no use in trying to change it. Even with your best effort, you can't change fate. Just leave things as they are and know this won't be the end._

Kai clenched his fists, but decided that there was nothing he could do about it. He left Yuma and Astral alone to what was thought to be their final moment together.

As he was being sent back to Earth, Kai muttered, "If I had been here a little sooner, this all could have been prevented." He smiled a little before continuing, "Well, I guess don't have the power to change fate, at least not yet."

Kai stared at the sunset as Yuma began breaking down and crying. After a while, Kotori guided Yuma home and Shark went back to the hospital.

Seeing that there was no point in staying any further, Kai planned to leave, but Kaito suddenly held him back, with the intent on dueling.

Kaito said, "Even after what you tried to do, I can't trust you yet and I don't even know who you are. You might just be a Barian in disguise. After all, you happened to know exactly when Number 96 was going to strike. Determining whether you are a Barian or not should be easy to find out once I beat you in a duel."

Kai laughed, "I didn't want a fight where it could be avoided, but I guess you're not going to back down. This is very interesting; I wonder who the strongest one is."

"You're going to be the one losing."

"Don't get in over your head now. You said it yourself; you don't know who I am. How would you know if I would lose to you or not."

"I don't need to know. You'll end up losing like everybody else."

Orbital suddenly butted in and said, "Master Kaito, he's definitely suspicious. You can't see his face and he's dressed completely in black, like those horror movies."

Towards Orbital, both Kai and Kaito simultaneously yelled, "Shut up, Orbital!"

Kai laughed before saying, "Well, why don't we get this duel started already?"


	3. Chapter 3: Future and Present

Chapter 3: Future and Present

Kaito started the duel by playing the field spell, Photon World, and special summoned Photon Thrasher and normal summoned Photon Chargeman. By using Photon Chargeman's ability, Kaito managed to special summon his Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. Due to the effect of Photon World, Kai received 1600 point of damage.

The damage knocked back his hood, but Kai managed to pulled it back on. It was too slow though; Kaito and Orbital managed to see his face.

Orbital was the first to comment. "How dare you have the same face as Master Kaito."

Kaito shut Orbital up with a glare and proceed to ask Kai, "Just who are you?"

Kai replied, "I am you and, at the same, I am not."

"Stop speaking in riddles and give me a straight answer."

"I am your future."

"As if I'd fall something like that."

"If you don't believe me, then use Galaxy Eyes to attack me directly. I will leave my field completely empty, so there are no obstacles."

"You're pretty eager to lose, but I won't complain. Galaxy Eyes, direct attack."

Galaxy Eyes didn't attack, but disappeared from the field.

Kaito had a shock look on his face as he said, "That's impossible. What did you do?"

Kai smiled as he said, "I didn't do anything. Galaxy Eyes didn't want to have to choose between us, so it disappeared. Now do you believe me?"

"The duel would be pointless if we continued. I can't trust or believe you yet, but I know you aren't an enemy."

"That was easier than I expected."

"What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? Since I'm from the future, I know what will happen to you in the future. So, I'm here to help you out."

"Fine, do whatever you want. Orbital, we're leaving."

Orbital saluted before turning into a glider. Kaito told Kai, "If you plan on tagging along, find your own mode of transportation. As you know, Orbital can only carry one person."

Kai materialized Photon Delta Wing and jumped onto it. "I'm well of aware of Orbital's capabilities, so I already thought it through."

"Whatever. I really don't care."

After a while, they managed to managed to make it to the basement. Kaito started watching surveillance video of the entire city. A few minutes later, Kaito asked Kai, "Can you figure out-" Kai was nowhere to be found in the room. Under his breath, Kaito muttered, "Fine time to be going to the bathroom."

Five minutes later, Kai quietly reentered the room. It took a while before Kaito realized he returned. Once he did, Kaito asked, "Can you figure out what these energy readings are?"

Kai only replied, "Can't… eating… right… now."

Kaito finally turned around from the multiple monitor screens and saw Kai eating out a three-gallon tub of ice cream. "How much of that have you eaten?"

"I would say about a third so far."

"At this rate, I'm definitely going to get fat. You should stop."

"I thought you didn't care what I did."

"Well, I do now."

"Always the hypocrite, aren't you?"

"If you're me, you should know that by now."

"You're getting really off topic right now. I thought you wanted to know what the energy readings are, not how I act."

"Fine, let's return back to the subject. A couple hours ago, there were four energy spikes, but they aren't like anything I've ever encountered before."

"It's Heartland and his flunkies returning from the Barian World. Probably with their fake Numbers. They're a pain in the rear."

"Hold up. Fake Numbers? How the heck is Heartland alive?"

"Vector's fault."

"That doesn't help me at all."

"Knowing the future isn't always good for you, so let me ask you. Are you sure you want to know the future?"

"Ask yourself that. You're the one that decided to go to the past."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt if I gave you a few spoilers. The Barians are planning to fuse Earth with the Barian World using the Fake Numbers. Fake Numbers are just that, fake Numbers."

"Is there any way to remove the Fake Numbers? This might just be the advantage-"

"Finished."

"What?"

"I just finished all of the ice cream; that's all."

Kaito slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand while mumbling, "So far, my future is looking pretty terrible."

"Hey, I heard that. You're just jealous of me."

"Whatever. Orbital, we're leaving. Kai, stay here and watch the monitors. Call me if there are any changes."

"Going back to the ruins again? It's pointless; you're not going to find anything else after searching every nook and cranny."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do."

"Same thing here. Just telling you it's a waste of time that could be better spent, like with family. I forgot to mention. You promised Haruto you would tuck him in."

"When did I do that?"

"About ten minutes ago, in the kitchen. Speaking of the kitchen, I'm hungry, so you should probably make dinner. Since I care, I'll help you out."

"You just finished an entire tub of ice cream. How are you still hungry?"

"I haven't eaten for around five days, so what do you expect? Anyway, do you still want me to help you cook?"

"Fine, but under no circumstances do you take your hood off. Understood?"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

"I'm being serious here."

"It might seem bad for you, but it's worse for me if my existence was common knowledge. You might not know this, but if people found out the truth about me, they would be trying to kill me. When I say 'they', I mean the Barians."

"So, we're on an agreement, right?"

Before he could get an answer, Kai had already left the room.

Kaito was the last to leave the room. In the doorway, he said to himself, "I can't believe my future is out to antagonise me. What did I do?"

…

Introductions were the hardest, for both Kaito and Kai. When Haruto first saw the both of them together, he asked, "Brother, why didn't you tell me you had a friend over?"

Kaito started panicking before coming up with an answer. "Uhh, he came suddenly and-"

"I didn't want to bother you. Orbital told me you were busy at the moment." Kai finished Kaito's sentence and gave Haruto a decent reason.

Haruto extended his hand towards Kai and said, "I'm Haruto, Kaito's younger brother. What's your name?"

Kai shook his hand and replied, "Atlas."

"That's an interesting name. Why are you wearing a hood indoors?"

"I have a light sensitivity issue."

"Okay, it makes sense." Haruto turned towards Kaito and asked, "Are you going to make dinner?"

Kaito replied, "Yes and Atlas is going to help me."

"I'll set the table then. Make sure Atlas doesn't burn down the kitchen."

"Don't worry. He won't."

Once they were in the kitchen, Kai told Kaito, "That was easier than I expected. "

While chopping carrots, Kaito replied, "The hardest is yet to come. Before you touch anything, take of your gloves off, roll up your sleeves, and wash your hands with soap."

"There are more pressing things to discuss, like how to explain this to your dad. But if it'll make you happy, I will do as you say."

"Don't worry, I'm thinking of a plan right now. You need to come up with a backstory of how we met. If you do all the manual labor for the time you're staying here, I'll call it even for lodging."

"You're a real slave-driver, you know that?"

"I'm just trying to get the job done."

Once everyone was sitting at the dinner table, Kaito told Dr. Faker, "Dad, this is my friend, Atlas. He's going to be staying with us for a while."

The only reply he got was, "I guess you guys will have to share a room."

Kaito ended up staring into black space for a few seconds before Kai snapped him out of is by poking him in the face with a spoon.

After clearing the table and washing the dishes, Kai and Kaito retired to Kaito's room. Kaito said, "I thought everything through just to find out it was unnecessary."

Kai took a seat in the corner of the room and said, "Your expression at the dinner table was funny. Since I feel bad for you, I'll let you have the bed for today."

"You should get some sleep, I need you to accompany me somewhere tomorrow."

"Where, a haunted house? You probably can't bring yourself to go alone."

"Just shut up."


	4. Chapter 4: Warnings

Chapter 4: Warnings

While stifling yawns, Kai told Kaito, "When you said tomorrow, I was thinking of around noon, not four o'clock in the morning. Wake me up when we get there."

"Before you go to sleep again, there is something I need to ask you. Why do you act like that? You're supposed to be me, but the way you act is completely different."

"Death can really change a person. Can I sleep now?"

"Who died? Hey, answer me!"

"Use your head. Who is the only person you know that you would never mourn if they died?"

"That person would be… me."

"Even the Lone and Absolute Genius can figure it out. Seems I've said too much."

"So I end up dying. I won't ask how; I don't want to know. If I died, how are you alive?"

"Kaito Tenjo died and was reborn as Kai Atlas."

"That doesn't make any sense at all."

"How about I make this promise with you? Let me sleep and I will explain everything once the battle with the Barians is over."

"Why can't you just explain later? I don't want to take your word for it."

"An Atlas never goes back on his word."

"I don't want or need to listen to your life morals.… Don't fall asleep when I'm talking to you!"

Kaito felt bad that Kai had already died, so he let Kai sleep in peace. As he thought about his own mortality, Kaito realized he did not fear death. He smiled as he wondered what the future holds.

Several hours later, Kaito tried to wake up Kai with normal methods, but all of them failed. He only managed after shoving ice cold salt water down his throat. Kai suddenly shouted, "The plane crashed into the ocean!"

Kaito slapped Kai in the face to remove any traces of sleep left. While holding onto his injured cheek, Kai said, "That was completely unnecessary!"

"Actually, it was. I spent over five minutes trying to wake you up." As if to prove his point, Kaito turned on a video had been secretly recording of his attempt to wake up Kai.

Kai retorted, "As if you are any different."

"Anyway, we're at our destination."

"Where are we?"

"You should have asked me before we left. If you want to know, this is where the Dimensional Transporter I helped build lies."

"I see; there is a question I want to ask you. Why did decide to build it on this ICE BOX?"

"Don't ask me. It was Chris's idea. I think he wanted to make sure that it won't be discovered accidentally."

"Okay, so why did you drag me all the way out here?"

Instead of answering, Kaito just dragged Kai off of the plane by the front of his coat. Once they were off of the plane, they ran into V.

V had an angered expression on his face as he told Kaito, "I ordered you to keep this area a secret between the two of us. What is your reason for bringing him along."

Kaito suddenly pulled down Kai's hood. As Kai struggled to get his hood back on, he faced Kaito and yelled, "What the hell was that for? You could have told me what you planned."

The reply he got was, "Sorry, but this was the only way I could get Chris to trust you."

After recover from his initial shock, V said, "I did not know that you had a twin brother, Kaito."

Kai and Kaito simultaneously said, "We are not brothers!"

"I apologize. Then who are you? A clone?"

Kaito pulled V aside and told him, "He's supposedly me from the future. The way he acts though, makes me doubt that."

V laughed a little before replying, "There were times you were worse."

"That doesn't matter right now. He knows what the Barians are planning."

Kai yelled towards them, "There's no reason to keep secrets from me. I know everything, Tenjo."

Once they returned to where Kai was standing, V asked Kai, "Since there are two of you, is there something I can call you won't confuse both of your identities?"

"Atlas."

"That's strange. I could have sworn I've heard that name somewhere before."

"It belonged to a famous person, so I'm sure you'll remember."

Kaito said, "Now that the introductions are over, let's get on with the pressing matters. Atlas, would you tell Chris what the Barians are planning?"

Kai replied, "Fine, but only if you say please."

"Please."

"Okay. The Barians are planning to fuse our world with their world using Fake Numbers. Right now, there are four on Earth; all of them in the hands of Heartland and his cronies. Numbers One, Two, Three, and Four. More of them will come, probably in the millions maybe more."

V asked, "What exactly do the Fake Numbers do?"

"The souls whoever is in possession of one will be used for the fusion of both worlds."

"Why do the Barians want to fuse both our worlds?"

"Everyone assumes it is to gain power to destroy Astral World, but I think there is another reason to it as well."

"I need to warn my brothers about this. III is currently watching over Yuma right now. If we don't act now, it might be too late."

"You should also warn Yuma's friends. They will cause you some hell later on."

"Is there anything else I should warn them about?"

"Don't pick up any strange Numbers on the ground. Yuma, Shark and Tenjo here will all be targets because they each have real Numbers. Strong duelists of an extremely high caliber will be immune to most of the effects of the Fake Numbers, but it will cause a lot of pain later if placed inside their decks."

"That all?"

"Yeah, that's all I know before I-" Kai looked over at Kaito and saw that Kaito was giving him an uneasy expression. "-had to leave."

While V was contacting his brothers, Kai and Kaito started having a conversation to pass the time. Kai started off by asking, "Do you know how to be sociable at all?"

"Why do you need to ask? You're me, so you would know the answer."

"Not really. I have your memories, but not your personality. Sometimes, I don't understand why people do the things they do, but that's not very often."

"I don't want to tell you."

"Then, would you mind if I told you what I think and you correct me with yes or no?"

"… "

"By your silence, I'll take it that you agree. At first, you were so concentrated on becoming stronger that you completely ignored everybody else. Things became different after hunting your first Number. Since your conscience couldn't deal with the thought that you destroyed that person's life, you created impenetrable walls to keep yourself from becoming insane. How am I doing so far?"

"… "

"Silence again? Must mean I am completely right."

"Why don't you go bother Chris?"

"He doesn't seem to be done and don't change the subject. I know it's going to be hard, but you need to stop hiding behind that wall. There was a time you used to act just like me."

"Just shut up."

"That's it." Kai pulled both sides of Kaito's mouth upwards into a smile. "This is how you smile. Laughing requires you to actually open your mouth."

Kaito pushed Kai away and was about to say something before V said, "It looks like III found one of the fake Numbers, so I'm going to pick it up. Kai, since you know the most about it, I'll need you to come with me."

Kai nodded as he replied, "Sure, I'll go, but I think we should bring Kaito along as well. He might get lonely if he is here by himself." As he looked over his shoulder, he saw Kaito giving him a death glare.

Once the plane took off, Kai looked outside of the window. As he looked over to the other side of the plane, he could hear Kaito explaining to Chris what he discovered on the Numeron Code. Kai returned his gaze to the world below them and thought, _When the time comes, what type of choice will I make? Will it be the future… or the past?_


	5. Chapter 5: Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 5: Calm Before the Storm

Yuma, Kotori, and III were waiting in front of the plane when it landed. V was the first to get out, followed by Kai and Kaito. III handed V the Fake Number he obtained.

V handed Kai the card and asked, "Is this the right one?"

Kai nodded as he returned the card. Yuma walked up to him and said, "I wanted to thank you for the other day. If you hadn't helped us back there, it would have been very difficult for us to win the duel."

"I had to do something. That was the least I could do."

V placed the card in a bag and said, "I am going to need to examine this thoroughly. If I find anything out, I will inform all of you." He left in a helicopter.

Kaito and Kai were the last ones to leave. As they walked towards their home, Kai asked, "I'm hungry. What's for dinner today?"

"I'm too tired to cook and it's 's the nearest take-out place?"

"That type of food tastes gross. If you're not cooking, I will. We are going to the grocery store first. Since I'm cooking, you have to carry all the groceries."

"Why do I have to carry everything?"

"Stop whining. Besides, it seems you could use the exercise."

"I happen to be fit and healthy, so you know."

"Yeah right. The last time you actually exercised was last year. I won't take no for an answer."

After a few minutes of intense words and flying fists, Kai ended up dragging Kaito by the collar of his coat to the grocery store. Kaito left the store loaded down with several bags of ingredients while Kai kept a death grip on his collar.

While they were walking home, Kaito said, "You bought more stuff than we needed just to torture me, didn't you? It's not even watermelon season, but you went and bought a twenty pound one."

Kai tightened his grip as he replied, "That's unusual. I should think that the 'great' Kaito would be able to handle some weight without complaining."

"I'm not complaining! This is just me evaluating my situation."

"Can't you do it quietly then?"

"Maybe I don't want to."

"I remembered to buy duct tape, though I didn't expect to use it this early."

"… "

"Now you finally shut up. I hope this trip is going to end in peace."

Once they returned home, Kai immediately started cooking, but dinner wasn't served until midnight. Everybody ended up falling asleep at the dinner table.

…

The next day, Kaito woke up to the smell of something burning. When he ran into the kitchen, it was perfectly fine. Smoke was coming from outside. As he ran through the front door, the smoke got thicker and smelled like burning fabric. Kai was standing in front of a small bonfire.

Kaito asked him, "What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like to you? I'm getting rid of things that are an eyesore."

"There are better ways of getting rid of things instead of just burning them."

"I know, but this is the best way to get your attention as well."

"Why do I even bother talking to you? I'm going back to my room to change."

When Kaito looked inside his closet, he found all of his pants (tights, actually) were gone. He thought about it while looking around for something to wear and a terrible realization came to him as he ran towards the front door. Kai was still standing in front of his fire.

Kaito grabbed him by the hood and yelled, "Tell me exactly what you did!"

Kai released himself from Kaito's grip and replied, "I told you before, getting rid of things that are an eyesore."

"That doesn't include you burning my clothes."

"To be precise, just your tights actually. It's really indecent to be wearing those in public. I'm doing the world and you a favor by destroying them."

"You could have at least told me beforehand!"

"Where's the fun in that? Don't worry, I'm not planning on making you walk around in your underwear. Here are your replacements." Kai handed him a cardboard box filled with pants. "They're yours now, so do what you want."

Kaito accepted the box and placed it on the doorstep before returning to the front yard. "Maybe you should pay more attention to yourself. How long has it been since you last showered or washed your clothes? Everytime you walk in the room, it smells like body odor."

"This coat hides my presence from the Barians. If I take it off, they would sense my aura immediately and confront me wherever I was."

"If you can't take it off, there's only one other way to solve this." Kaito grabbed the garden hose and sprayed a torrent of water at Kai.

After a few minutes, Kai managed to grab the hose and turn the tables. Kaito turned off the water as the front lawn was beginning to turn into a pool. While putting the hose away, Kai said, "You need to work on your aim. I know the putting fire out quickly was what you were trying to do, but you should aim before randomly spraying water everywhere."

Kaito grabbed the cardboard box that was still somehow dry and said, "I was aiming, but the fire was just in my way. You should thank me for getting rid of your odor. While I get to change into dry clothes, you should dry yourself in the sun or you're going to smell like a wet dog." While Kaito was going inside, Kai noticed he had a faint smile on his face.

Kai thought to himself, _You're finally starting to break down that wall you surrounded yourself with. There's not much time left, but I'll do what I can to help._

_Master Atlas, I forgot to mention this to you earlier._

_Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon? You don't have to call me Master._

_I will remember that. There is a title for the wielder of the power you have. You are now the Master of Synchros._

_Master of Synchros?_

_Your powers have not yet fully manifested yet. It has been five thousand years since it last appeared._

_It's strange that everything seems to happen again every five thousand years._

_Fate has made it that way.…You seem to be preoccupied with a new mission._

Kai looked up at the window to Kaito before replying, _No matter how hard I try, I can't see myself as him. As I am right now, he is just another person. There's nothing I can do to prevent his death, lest the world be thrown into chaos. The least I can do is make his last days alive as memorable as possible._


	6. Chapter 6: Redemption

Chapter 6: Redemption

A few days have passed since V started to examine the Fake Number, but he still couldn't find a way to get rid of them. While looking at the rain outside the window, Kaito informed Kai, "Chris asked for our assistance in finding a way to destroy the Fake Numbers. We are meeting up at where the Dimensional Transporter is. I have other things I need to take care of first, so you can wait here until I get back."

Kai grabbed an umbrella and said, "You can't hide anything from me. Since you're going to pick up Yuma, I'm going as well. It's boring to stay here alone."

"Afraid of ghosts or something?"

"No, might as well save you the trip of returning back. I know how much you hate to exercise."

"Get the helicopter. I'll go pick up Yuma."

Once the helicopter was hovering over their destination Kai waited a minute before dropping the rope ladder from the entrance. When the hatch had been shut, Kaito said, "Kai, it would have been easier if you had just landed the helicopter instead of tossing the rope ladder from midair."

Kai threw a towel at him and said, "You needed the exercise. Besides, it would draw more attention if I landed. The flight is going to be long, so make yourselves comfortable."

While Kaito was explaining his theory the coins to Yuma, Kai came from behind and gave Kaito a hard smack on the neck. As Kaito was rubbing the area where he was hit, he yelled, "What in the world was that for? If you wanted my attention, you could have just asked."

Kai had his back turned, as he was preoccupied with something, but he replied, "There was a mosquito flying around. I thought I got it, but it flew away. If you see it, make sure to kill it without hesitation."

"Couldn't you have done a gentler job at it? Or at least, tell me beforehand."

"Maybe I don't want to. Since the mosquito got away, I need you guys to make sure to get rid of it by any means."

"I hope that doesn't include hitting me again."

"That's a promise I can't make."

"If any of you hit me again, I swear I will punch you in the face."

"You're no fun, Tenjo."

"Just shut up, Atlas. Anyway, that method can only be used once, due to the lack of resources. I cannot guarantee-" Kaito ducked as he saw Kai's hand going towards his face. "That's it. You're going down." He threw a punch, aiming towards Kai's face.

Kai crouched close to floor and rolled to the right, causing Yuma to take the blow instead. As he got up, Kai said to Kaito, "If you hadn't ducked, I would have gotten that mosquito."

"You tried to hit me again. I'm not letting it slide this time. Since I'm a man of my word, I'm going to return your punches." It turned into a fistfight between Kaito and Kai.

Kotori saw the brawl going on in front of her and told Yuma, "Kaito doesn't normally act like this. What's going on?"

Yuma cheered them on a little before replying, "Me neither. They must be good friends or at least know each other better than we do."

Kai seemed to hear what Yuma said and yelled to him, "That's sort of the reason. I knew this guy for about thirteen years."

Ten minutes later, Kai ended tying up an unconscious Kaito with rope found on the helicopter. Once Kaito regained consciousness, he yelled at Kai, "How could I be beaten by you?"

While staring out of the window, Kai replied, "That's because I'm better than you."

"How is that possible? Our strengths should be the same."

"It should, if I had the same body. Also, when it comes to strategy, I'm far superior to you. The helicopter is about to land, so get ready."

Instead of untying the rope, Kai just dragged Kaito out of the helicopter. Once everyone was got out, they ran into V.

V had an angry expression on his face as he said, "Kaito! Why did you bring Yuma here?"

Kaito had some difficulty getting up, but once he managed, he replied, "Unlike you, I have no plan to coddle him… Kai, get these ropes off of me."

Kai was experimentally tugging on a section of the rope as he replied, "Only if you say please."

"Fine, please get these ropes off me."

"Done." He gave that segment a hard pull and all of the rope fell to the floor.

V continued to say, "That's not the problem here! We are going to forcefully open the gate toward different dimensions! Plus, we have no idea what will happen after that!"

Kai struggled to hold in his yawn as he already heard this conversation before. Kaito shut him up with a glare and said, "I know that!"

Yuma butted in and said, "V! Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"The reason's quite obvious. It's because I knew you would go for sure after I informed you about it."

"Of course it's obvious! Maybe we can get Astral back!"

"You have no idea how dangerous this experiment is. Even if you managed to get to Astral World, a world you have never been to before, we have no idea what's going to happen next. In the worst case scenario, you might not be able to return alive."

Kai let out a large yawn and said, "If the kid wants to go, let him go. I think you guys need to be a bit more trusting in his abilities."

Kaito backed him up by saying, "Chris! It's no coincidence Yuma's father left those coins in the ruins. If he expected everything that has happened so far-"

"The coins are a summon for Yuma to go to Astral World. Besides Chris, Yuma is not going to fail in his mission. He will return alive with Astral. I hope you will take my word for it."

V, after thinking for a moment, replied, "Very well, Yuma, prepare for the trip."

As Orbital was setting up the computer and V was giving last minute instructions, Kai inspected the power lines. He noticed that someone had tampered with it. If let as it was, a blackout was going to occur in the area. That problem could be avoided by reattaching a few of the wires, but it would slow down the charge. Kai finished in the nick of time as the power almost went out.

When Kai returned to where the others were, a Barian confronted them. Kaito planned to be the one dueling and told the intruder, "This place is my responsibility, so I will protect it."

V stood next to Kaito and said, "I cannot allow anyone to interfere during Yuma's departure."

As he thought about the time he had this exact same duel, Kai patted Kaito on the shoulder and said, "You're going to win, so don't hold back." Kaito staggered a little, but recovered quickly, so nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

Their opponent, Kaninja, threw a sphere and announced, "In this field, your Life Points are halved, while mine are doubled." He changed into his true form.

The duel started after V caught the card Yuma threw at him.

V's turn: Uses the effect of Deep Space Cruiser 9, it can be Special Summoned by sending one Machine-Type Monster to the Graveyard. Activates the magic card Hologram Projection, it becomes a Monster in the Monster-Zone with the same Attack, Defense, and Level as the targeted Monster. Targets Deep Space Cruiser 9. Overlays Deep Space Cruiser 9 with Hologram Projection to Xyz Summon Number 9 Dyson Sphere. Ends turn

Kaito's turn: Special Summons Photon Thrasher with its own effect. Normal Summons Photon Chargeman. Raises the Attack of Photon Chargeman to 2000 with it own effect. Tributes both Monsters to Special Summon Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. Ends turn.

Kaninja's turn: Normal Summons Mosquito Force. Adds one Army Mosquito Blood Force to his hand with the effect of Mosquito Force. Activates Ninjitsu Art of Mosquito Marching, which allows him to Special Summon two "Army Mosquito" Monster from his hand. Overlays all three Level 2 Monsters to Xyz Summon Number 2 Ninja Shadow Mosquito. Sets one card. Ends turn.

V: Declared an attack on-

Kaito shouted at V, "Don't attack. It's a trap. I've got an idea, but I need you to attack me." He noticed a dark scowl forming on Kaninja's face.

V: Attacked Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon with Dyson Sphere. Kaito activated Galaxy Eyes' effect and banished both of the monsters until at the end of the Battle Phase. Dyson Sphere lost both of its Overlay Units and Galaxy Eyes gained 500 Attack Points for each Overlay Unit that was sent to the Graveyard, raising it to 4000. Sets two cards. Ends turn.

Kaito: Attacks Ninja Shadow Mosquito and activates Galaxy Eyes' effect. At the end of the Battle Phase, Ninja Shadow Mosquito lost all three of its Overlay Units and Galaxy Eyes gained 1500 Attack Points, raising it to a grand total of 5500. Sets two cards. Ends turn.

Before ending his turn, Kaito taunted, "You should stop relying on cheap tricks; they're not going to work in this duel. After all, I know everything."

Kaninja: Normal Summons Army Mosquito Blood Commando. Activates its effect: when Ninja Shadow Mosquito is on the field, it can be tributed to place a Hallucination Counter on an opponent's face-up Monster. Kaito activates his trap card, Divine Wrath; it negates the effect of an Effect Monster and destroys it by sending one card to the Graveyard. Blood Commando gets destroyed. Activates trap card Mosquito School Ninjitsu Art of Mosquito Repellent Flash, raises the attack of one monster by 1000 for every Army Mosquito banished by this effect. Ninja Shadow Mosquito attacks Dyson Sphere. Dyson Sphere's effect activates; when it is targeted for an attack, it can attach monster from the Graveyard as its Overlay Units. Since Deep Space Cruiser 9 was the only Monster in V's Graveyard, Dyson Sphere only gained one Overlay Unit. Dyson Sphere's other effect activates; when it is attacked when it has Overlay Units, the attack is negated. Ends turn.

V: Detaches one Overlay Unit to have Dyson Sphere attack Kaninja directly, bringing his Life Points down to 5200. Ends turn.

Kaito: Activates the magic card Eternal Magic, which allows him to reuse Hologram Projection. Uses Hologram Projection to create a copy of Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. V activated his face-down, Power Analyze, to have Dyson Sphere's attack match Galaxy Eyes' and then activated Paradox Synthesize, by tributing a Level 5 or above Monster his opponent controls and an Xyz Monster he controls, one Monster gains Attack Points equal to their combined Attack. Hologram Projection and Dyson Sphere were tributed. Galaxy Eye's Attack was 16500. Galaxy Eyes attacked Ninja Shadow Mosquito and the duel was over.

V and Kaito won. Once the duel ended, the Dimensional Transporter had completely charged and Yuma was sent to Astral World. After Yuma disappeared, Kaito dragged Kai to where nobody could hear them and said, "I'm only going to say this once. Thanks for the help back there. If you didn't intervene, I probably would have ended up looking like a fool."

Kai thought about it for a few minutes before asking, "How did you know about it?"

"Weren't you the one who showed me those memories? It was right before the duel."

"It wasn't intentional. All I did was think about that time and then-" A realization dawned on him. "I'm going try something out, so just stand there."

After a few seconds, Kaito ended up going into a fit of giggles. When he recovered, he told Kai, "I can't believe you did that to Chris. He's going to hold it against me, even though you were the one who spat milk in his face. What does this prove anyway?"

"It shows that you can experience what I did, even when we're from different timelines. We don't have to make physical contact for you to be affected. That makes things easier."

"How does that make things easier?"

"I can give you better warnings without revealing it to everybody."

"As long as you don't overdo it, I guess it would be fine. Though somehow, it makes me feel like I'm cheating, so don't do it unless it's an emergency."

Kai rubbed his eyes, pretending to cry. "You're mean; you don't even have any faith in yourself." After dropping the act, he continued, "I'm a good judge of situations. What do you think I am, a moron?"

"Judging by the way you act, yes."

"One of this days, I'm going to get you for that. Watch your back when we return. Speaking of returning, we should rejoin the others; they're probably wondering what we're doing."

After waiting in front of the Dimensional Transporter for over an hour, Kai received a message from Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon. _If you are that worried about him, you should go after him._

_Is that even possible?_

_Your coat should protect you. Besides, you have your powers and you can control them to a very large degree._

_If that's the case, there's no time like the present._


End file.
